“We have identified the owner of the car. The investigation as to who was driving the vehicle is ongoing. I will have more to say about this next week.” Mario Mattera, in a phone conversation with Smithtown Matters. Mr. Mattera was asked to make a statement about the identity of the person who illegally removed campaign signs on 25A in St. James last week. (Candidates Spouse - Alleged theft of political signs “No such theft took place”)
Mr. Mattera is currently in a primary against Paul Hennings and Robert Trotta for a seat on the Suffolk County Legislature. His goal is to replace Lynne Nowick in the 13th Legislative District. Ms. Nowick has been term limited out of office. Nowick is looking to fill a seat on the Smithtown Town Council and is also in a three-person Republican primary. Both Nowick and Mattera are endorsing each other. Many of their signs are posted by the same people. According to Mattera, he is placing signs with the permission of residents and business owners. He has instructed all supporters on the appropriate placement of signs and campaign literature, and expressly forbids the removal of competitors signs and literature.
The Mattera campaign issued the following statement last week. “A passerby witnessed a woman pull her car over, exit the car, and begin to remove signs promoting the campaigns of Mario Mattera and Lynne Nowick, and place them in the car trunk. When confronted, the woman stated that she was stealing ‘the signs because Mattera stole my Paul Hennings signs.” The witness demanded she put the signs back, but she refused. The witness told the woman that he noted her license plate number and would be contacting the police.
The signs were not replaced and the police were asked to investigate. “This is how crazy things are going in this campaign. This woman stopped her car, stopped traffic and ran across 25A, putting herself and other drivers in jeopardy to steal my signs.” Mario Mattera. According to sources, all the primary candidates are experiencing theft of signs and the signs are not cheap. In a primary getting ones name out before the public is critical. Signage is one way to do it. According to Mattera, “these signs were paid for with campaign donations, money that came from family and friends and supporters to help me. I cannot take the illegal removal of the signs lightly and I am angry that instead of talking about issues like the terrible drug problem we have, this woman is making the conversation about signs. How crazy is this? I will have an announcement to make next week after the investigation is completed.”